ITN: Can fringe benefits be regarded as part of the living allowance if the employment contract does not provide for this but according to the collective agreement, all employees are entitled to receive this fringe benefit?

Fringe benefits should be explicitly mentioned (if not agreed upon) in the employment contract. However, if they are a usual practice stated in the organisation’s official documents (e.g., internal regulations), the Fellow should carefully look for relevant references in the signed contract. In any case, there must be a legally binding document for the organisation to verify the regularity and legality of the fringe benefits, in order to be included in the living allowance.

ITN: A PhD researcher employed within an MSCA Innovative Training Networks project has to return to their home country because of medical reasons but their employment under the project ends in two months. Can they finish their project teleworking?

As it is for medical reasons, and, only for a couple of months, the project coordinator can discuss this issue with the Project Officer. Under normal circumstances, teleworking from another country is not allowed and the fellows have to be employed at the premises of the Host Institution.

ITN: An ITN project got an extension and its final conference is postponed by 10 months. The employment contracts of most of the early-stage researchers recruited within the project have already finished. Do they have contractual obligations to attend and co-organise the final project conference?

The only document that links the early-stage researchers to the beneficiaries are their employment contracts. If these contracts don’t mention attending and co-organising the final project conference, the researchers do not have any obligations. The Project Officer should be contacted to discuss moving the conference or organising it online.

ITN: What should be done if a host organisation, part of an ITN project, is facing financial difficulties which may affect the doctoral candidate’s fellowship and payments each month?

In such situation the fellow should discuss this issue with the coordinator of the project and the coordinator should try and find a solution together with the Project Officer of the project. It could be that this organisation might leave the project. In such a case, there are a few possibilities, such as: a transfer of the fellow (and associated person-months) to another partner or the organisation can be replaced by a new partner which will hire the doctoral researcher.

ITN: A fellow has not received their salary for a while. What can they do to reclaim their allowance?

The relation between the fellow and the host organisation is regulated by the type of work contract signed between the two parties for the implementation of the ITN project and as such, falls under the legal framework of the country where the contract had been concluded.

If the organisation does not pay these amounts to the fellow, it will not be entitled to claim the units related to the cost of recruitment of the fellow for the period in question. This should be worked through with the REA Project Officer. If the Project Officer finds enough evidence that the work on the project was correctly delivered (although with a temporary breach of Article 32 in terms of salary payments to the fellow), they might consider it is more beneficial to reimburse the organisation so that it could rectify their payments towards the fellow.

However, if the host organisation finally pays the fellow even with 5 months’ delay, it still respects the Grant Agreement.

The coordinator should check if there are any procedures planned in the Consortium Agreement for such cases.

ITN: In a European Joint Doctorates project is it mandatory to obtain the PhD diploma by the end of the project?

It is not mandatory for the MSCA fellows to defend their thesis or to obtain their PhD single, double, joint or multiple degree in the frame of the ITN project.  

ITN/ COFUND: What is the appeal procedure in case a researcher wishes to make an appeal against the decision to be excluded from the selection process for a doctoral position?

In a COFUND programme, there should be a clear appeal procedure explained on the programme website, together with the call for candidates.

In case of an ITN project, it depends on the procedures that have been put in place for that in this concrete ITN. The doctoral candidate can contact the selection committee and ask about the existing appeal procedure.

All actions: Is it possible to request part-time working less than 50% FTE for personal/ family reasons in H2020?

The requirement to dedicate at least 50% of the working time to the action for both professional and personal reasons was outlined in the MSCA H2020 Work Programme 2018-2020 on p.95 “In cases of part-time work, all researchers must dedicate at least 50% of their working time to the MSCA action, whether they are working part-time for family or other reasons”. When it comes to parental leave, it falls under personal or family reasons. However, the fellow would still have to dedicate at least 50% of the working time to the project.

ITN: Is the 40% rule also respected in case of a later transfer - if a beneficiary wants to leave the consortium and another beneficiary would take over the PMs of an ESR?

Yes, the 40% rule is valid during the lifetime of the project. The coordinator of the project should contact the project officer if any unexpected circumstances happen.

ITN: Two ESRs from the same ITN project are married to each other. Are both of them eligible to receive family allowance?

Both are eligible for the family allowance. The family allowance depends on the status of each person (both are married, does not matter to whom), it does not depend on the household.

ITN: A coordinator of an ITN project received an email on Dissemination and Exploitation of their results stating that they need to make sure that the project website is sustainable for the next years, as a minimum in a static form, but preferably with new added content. What does “next years” mean?

The website of the project should be kept for several years after the project end. It is advised to keep the website (in some form) for five years after the project ends, in line with the Grant Agreement article 18.1 on p. 173.

ITN: Is there a minimum/ maximum price for accommodation during secondments?

There are no minimum or maximum prices for travel in MSCA projects. However, internal rules of the participating organisations and national regulations have to be respected.

ITN: A university had to use a small amount from the Β1. Research, Training & Networking costs category to top up the payment of a researcher. Is there a chance that the researcher cannot prove their dedication to the project in the case of audit?

It is allowed to use an unspent part of the institutional costs to complete the fellow’s salary (but not the opposite). Still, this should not prevent from implementing the project as planned. In case of an audit, it will be checked if the fellows were eligible, that they received the total amount of “researcher’s costs” (living, mobility and family allowances, if relevant), that the recruitment and hosting conditions were appropriate, and that the project was implemented as planned.

ITN: Are early-stage researchers entitled to receive daily allowances during their secondments?

Only the reimbursement of travel and accommodation expenses is mandatory. If the beneficiary wants to pay daily allowances to the researcher, it is possible, if they have enough funding remaining.

ITN: Where can fellows share their work with society? What other platforms, events, etc. (besides the European Researchers’ Night) are there for MSCA fellows?

Fellows can look for the following opportunities:

• The host organisation's PR services, including social media channels.

• Science weeks, science fairs, open-schools, etc. organised in their city/ region.

• The European Science Engagement Association.

• The Falling Walls Lab.

• The Marie Curie Alumni Association (MCAA offers talks on public engagement and semi-citizen/ semi-peer targeted outreach sessions at their events.

• Apply at ESOF – EuroScience.

ITN/ IF: A recruited ESR will move from a third country to the beneficiary in Europe. Can this travel cost be paid with the Research, Training and Networking unit costs?

The general principle is that the mobility allowance is spent on costs related to the ESR’s mobility (e.g. relating to travel and accommodation). This allowance covers private costs of the researchers.

The Research, Training and Networking costs are spent on travels in connection with the project (professional costs).

Additionally, the EC has suggested that possible visa costs can be taken from the RTN costs as well.

You can find some guidance in the AMGA, p. 455 and 461.

ITN tuition fees: Who pays the tuition fees in an ITN?

Tuition fees for ESRs are not paid by the ESRs, as indicated in Art. 32 (j) of the Model Grant Agreement which ensures that 'the researchers do not have to bear any costs for the implementation of the action as desribed in Annex 1.' 

This clause applies to all FP7 and all H2020 projects. For Horizon Europe project this is expected to remain the same and will be specified in the Horizon Europe Model Grant Agreement. 

IF: In the Guide for Applicants it is described that "unused amounts may be used for other action-related purposes (e.g. to increase the salary of a researcher [...])". Can this be agreed a priori with the host institution and become immediately part of the salary, or is this something that can happen only at the end of the period, provided that the money has not been previously spent?

There is not prescription concerning the period or the modalities of use of the institutional costs unused amounts.

The researcher salary can be increased using this cost category provided these costs are not needed for the research and training activities. The researcher must also agree on the payment modalities.

ITN: An ITN project is close to the end and has unused amount from the Institutional Costs category. How should they use the money? Do they need to return it?

The use of institutional costs should help the consortium implement the action by covering all research expenses, training and networking activities foreseen in the Description of Action (Annex 1 of the grant agreement) for the benefit of the recruited researchers. In order to achieve the said objectives and whenever there is unusued budget from this category, there is some flexibility as regards its use (redistributions of institutional costs within the consortium are allowed, unused amounts can be used to increase the salary of a researcher or organize additional trainings, etc.). In case of doubts or questions, contact the project officer. 

ITN: Is it allowed to hire a consultancy firm for (parts of) the coordination activities in an ITN? This firm is not mentioned in the proposal and is not included as partner in the consortium either.

Based on the art. 41.2 of the Grant Agreement the Coordinator can delegate an ‘authorisation to administer’ to a third party if the coordinator is an academic institution (secondary or higher education establishment or public body)  and 
(v) ensures that all payments are made to the other beneficiaries without unjustified delay (see Article 21); 
(vi) informs the Agency of the amounts paid to each beneficiary, when required under the Agreement (see Articles 44 and 50) or requested by the Agency. 

For additional information, the Coordinator should inform and discuss directly with the Project Officer. It should be taken note that core activities of the coordination tasks can NOT be given to a third party.